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Encounters at the End of the World Blu-ray
Image Entertainment | 2007 | 100 mins | Rated G | Nov 18, 2008
Encounters at the End of the World(2007)Documentary     Filmmaker Werner Herzog travels to the Antarctic community of McMurdo Station, on Ross Island, the headquarters for the National Science Foundation and home to eleven hundred people during the austral summer. McMurdo is a gathering place for people who want to step off the map and where everyone seem to be full-time travelers and part-time workers. Beyond the settlement, Herzog ventures from the under-ice depths of the Ross Sea to the brink of the Mount Erebus volcano. Over the course of his journey, nature in the wild shares equal time with human nature and he encounters many a colorful character along the way. For more details about Encounters at the End of the World on Blu-ray, see the Encounters at the End of the World Blu-ray Review Encounters at the End of the World Blu-ray, Video Quality  Get ready to be disappointed….Encounters is presented in a largely disappointing 1080i transfer using the AVC codec. I’m not sure if the film was originally shot in a higher resolution, so I cannot comment on the accuracy of this transfer compared to the original source material, but I would assume that a recent documentary would be filmed using cameras that are capable of full 1080p. Motion blurring seems to be the prominent flaw in the picture, and is quite distracting in several scenes. Even subtle motion during interviews (like the swaying of the interviewee’s head) will lead to ghosting. If you look at some of the screen captures, you’ll see the difficulty I had in obtaining decent looking frames as examples. Some of them looked downright awful, with moving objects reduced to a series of horizontal scan lines. If you do see what I’m talking about in the screenshots, just keep in mind the picture looks a lot smoother than the individual shots, but still suffers from the problem I’ve described. Another issue was the presence of stair-stepping lines or jaggies, (which shouldn’t happen with the resolution jump to high-definition) which can be seen around the window frame in screenshot #16. Grain is kept to a minimum, but there is a bar scene around the halfway point, where there is heavy digital noise throughout the picture. On the bright side, I didn’t detect any edge enhancement, black levels were appropriately deep, and contrast was solid. Most of the underwater footage (which is the best in the film) is shot with almost zero movement, so at least the detail was nicely rendered in those scenes. Overall, the cons outweigh the positives, and I’m disappointed that a “visual” film such as this was not given a little more attention in the video department. Encounters at the End of the World Blu-ray, Audio Quality  Unlike the shoddy video quality, we are given a lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track that is guaranteed not to disappoint. Since this is a documentary, explosions are kept to a minimum (though there is one incredible scene that involves a long chain of dynamite), so don’t expect much from your subwoofer. I doubt you’ll be concerned with that once your surrounds come alive with one of the many choir renditions set to beautiful shots of Antarctica. There’s just something about clean, crisp vocal music that enhances the majesty of nature, and makes you feel like you’re watching something awe-inspiring. Another excellent feature of the audio track was the segment on seal calls. During the scene, researchers put their ears to the ice, and we are given a lengthy taste of what the scientists hear on a daily basis. The sounds are differentiated across the sound field, and make you feel as though you are surrounded by a family of seals conversing with one another. Fortunately, the volume levels were nicely balanced throughout the feature, and I never found myself rushing to turn up the volume when someone was being interviewed. In addition to the lossless track, we have a Dolby Digital 5.1 track, and a Linear PCM 2.0 track (both also presented in English). Though it lacked the clarity and robust nature of the lossless track, the Dolby Digital track is still decent, and should sound just fine to those that do not currently have the capability to reproduce the superior track. The 2.0 track is front-heavy, and should be avoided at all costs. Encounters at the End of the World Blu-ray, News and Updates• Encounters at the End of the World Announced for Blu-ray - August 25, 2008 Image Entertainment has announced that they will bring the documentary 'Encounters at the End of the World' to Blu-ray on November 18th, day-and-date with the DVD release. The film, which is directed by Werner Herzog of 'Rescue Dawn' fame, explores life in the ... |
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